Monastic Guest – Austin

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Phone: (843) 761-8509

Visitors are welcome at Mepkin Abbey, which is privately owned and is home for Trappist monks. Living according to the Rule of St. Benedict, the monks offer hospitality to strangers. At Mepkin, that means that the abbey’s gardens are open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Reception Center/Gift Shop is open Tuesday – Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (closed on Mondays); guided tours to the Abbey Church are offered Tuesday through Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. (See details below) To maintain their lives of prayer, silence, privacy and solitude, the monks have a few important requests of all visitors:

• Upon arrival, please check in at the Reception Center/Gift Shop.

• Read and abide by all signs.

• Only two roads are open to the public: the main road which runs from the entrance to the public gardens, and the road which leads to the Reception Center & Store. Please stay on these two roads.

• Dogs must be on leashes at all times. (Please pick up after your dog.)

• Access to the Abbey church is by guided tour only. This access is limited because the church is in the monastic enclosure, the heart of the monastery.

• No professional photography allowed.

Tours

Guided tours to the Abbey Church are 11:30 AM and 3:00 PM Tuesdays to Saturdays. Tours are $5 per person (children and students free) which includes a guidebook of either the Gardens or the Monastery. (Note: The guided church tours include a walk from the Reception Center to the Abbey Church, a distance of about a quarter of a mile.) Reservations required for groups of 10 or more.

Visitors may enjoy the public gardens at their leisure.

Reception Center/Gift Shop

Once a month, on a Friday, the monks have a day of total silence and solitude. They call these the “Desert Days” and no tours of the monastery are given on these days. However, the Reception Center/Gift Shop and the gardens are open.

Upcoming Desert Days:

January 11
February 8
March 15
April 12
May 3
June 7
July 5
August 2
September 6
October 4
November 8
December 20

Mepkin Affiliate Program

I normally wouldn’t write about my time here if it were to be read by others. That’s because what happens here isn’t so much based on the externalities of the life – though they surely are important – as to what goes on inside, which is much more important. This may sound all flowery and poetic, or, heck, even overly “spiritual,” which isn’t what I’m going for. But it’s true. The divine often does speak through the senses, but the subtleties of the work lie in one’s heart, which is far more crucial.

There are two things about Mepkin that, in a very gradual and organic fashion, spoke to my heart.

The first is about failure. The first week or so, I often woke up in sweats about the whole transition, because I thought everything little thing either intensely mattered in the grand scheme of my place the universe – or was totally meaningless. This back and forth wavering between these poles gave rise to a lot of anxiety, and I came to recognize that it probably involved lots of ego. The ego either wants things perfect or nothing to do with anything at all. During this time it was difficult to cut myself some slack and find a balance.

I surely intellectually understood things like “My power is made perfect in your weakness” but actually going through the suffering from all the garbage that comes up inside you is quite a different thing. That’s mostly because we have this immense desire to feel included and do all the right things at all the right times – or to give up and go home. I found that it was when I began to not push the negative feelings away or control them, and maybe even listen attentively to what’s constantly being sung and said in church, you naturally settle into a rhythm because you realize that it’s okay to mess up. These monks are not trying to be God. They are trying to serve Him because they desire Him. I cannot emphasize this enough.

The second is a direct result of the first – and it’s about beauty. The grounds at the monastery are quite enchanting, as it is known. The graceful and minimalistic architecture, the pulsating sounds of the wildlife, and all the sweeping lawns: these things make for quite a nice place. In a way, everything seems perfect. But there is something to be said about a beauty that is not any of these – when not everything is as we’d like it to be. When the singing isn’t beautiful, when someone leading has to clear his throat, when the music is a little off, or when the food isn’t exactly what we’d choose: there is a sweetness there. A coming together it seems. When we all show up with imperfection, I think God rejoices greatly. I don’t know why it is this way, but it is.

I’ll miss things here very much.

But I’ll certainly be back.

Vocation Thought for the Day

“… and they dropped their nets and followed Jesus.” What have I allowed to keep me from following the Lord’s call?